Posted on 03/20/2006 10:54:35 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The sources are apparently dependent on Herschel, who was wrong. No alignment ever existed. :')
Another beautiful theory ruined by ugly facts.
The real main entrance was open during Graeco-Roman times, and tourists visited the pyramid even then. It was resealed late in the Roman period. Some centuries after the Moslems took over, the location of the real entrance was unknown, and one of the caliphs or poohbahs or whatever had a new one chipped into it. Once they found a passage, they followed it back down to the real entrance. It's possible that the so-called Robbers' Hole -- a sort of rabbit-warren-like passage -- was excavated at this time, but it could be ancient.
I agree, they aren't star shafts or aligned with anything in the sky (now or in the past). I'm a little put out that Schoch has fallen in with Bauval, but hey, that may be where the money is.
It's all so simple when you know the truth.
They're not aligned with stars........in this universe.
See?
Actually, according to recent excavations they were not using slave labor. The workers were well housed and fed, and came from all over Egypt for the work. They even left graffiti in the pyramids on their work. Kind of like "upriver stone-cutters rule!" (not exactly what they say, but that's the idea)There has been an official gov't policy that no slavery existed in ancient Egypt, but that's just nonsense. Of course there was housing for the slaves -- they worked on the project for generations, from the time of Sneferu, through Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, and some lesser-knowns along the way. And even before the true pyramids, large mastabas surrounded (like the Giza pyramids) by large walls were being made, all by slaves.
Shhh! We're supposed to keep that quiet, or rely on plausible denial.
Moslems don't joke. That has something to do with the fact that they have no sense of humor -- unless one counts exulting over a beheading, other mayhem, stuff like that.
Don't ya hate it when that happens?
I'm sure the damage can be attributed to global warming. Somehow. There must be a way...
Yeah.
Was the work voluntary? Well, in the vast majority of cases, no. Were they paid laborers? Yes. In fact, farmers used (and often depended upon) their government obligation to earn extra money in the off season. This is where the "involuntary servitude" label doesn't really fit either, which is why I said that it too is off the mark. Here's a few links. I don't have much time this morning, but will look a few more up late in the afternoon if you'd like.
One thing is for certain: the whipping and beating of slave laborers building the pyramid in the movie "The Ten Commandments" is totally wrong. It was what was thought at the time, but we know more about Egyptian society now.
Redding, who has worked at archaeological sites all over the Middle East, "was astounded by the amount of cattle bone he was finding," says Lehner. He could identify much of it as "young, under two years of age, and it tended to be male." Here was evidence of many people—presumably not slaves or common laborers, but skilled workers—feasting on prime beef, the best meat available.
The discovery of the town area reinforces the theory that ancient Egyptians utilized both permanent skilled labor, and a temporary workforce to complete the massive construction project.
While such temporary labor was not voluntary, Lehner suggests, neither was it slave labor in the sense most commonly assumed.
(more on government obligation)
The pyramids were probably not built by slaves because slave labour was not widely used in Egypt at the time. Peasant farmers, however, were required to spend a number of weeks working on construction projects. This provided the paid labour needed to build these gigantic structures. Since the fields were under water during the summer, wages earned in building the gigantic pyramids supplemented the family's income.
P.S. I tried my best to avoid quoting Zawi Hawass, but I was in a bit of a hurry. If I did so accidentally, I apologize. I really can't stand him. :-)
Yeah, but then the Egyptians could counter-counter-sue for the repeated use of bio-ecological-warfare, the massive work stoppage due to the Israeli Exodus, and the wanton destruction of the Egyptian army. Not to mention all of the wrongful death civil suits for all of their firstborn males being killed by angelic assasins.
In the end, Egypt and Israel would both be bankrupted, and only the lawyers would win. (which is the way it always works, LOL).
(big time Sarc tag)
Makes me wonder what they did at weddings in the old days. Scream "ALALALALALALALAH" and throw spears up into the air?
Exactly correct. Which also gives rise to the burkha. After you've seen one moslem girl spear catcher you really don't want to see another
Somewhere on the internet is a set of 3-D AutoCAD drawings of the Great Pyramid. You can change your perspective until you can sight right along the star shafts; it becomes clear that nothing can be sighted through the crooked star shafts, although when the pyramid was in construction and only half complete the shafts might have been straight enough to allow sighting through them.
It's not just that they were eating high protein. There are much cheaper sources of high protein than prime beef, so it is a logical conclusion that it is highly unusual that they would be feeding the best beef available to slave laborers. Kind of a roundabout way of saying that they were not likely to be slaves, but it makes sense. However, for Hawass to say that they definitely weren't slaves because of it is a bit of a stretch, at best. (and I really hope that I didn't imply that)
I would not be surprised if he made some sort of rule: filming on the Gaza plateau is only allowed if he is included!
I think that he already made that rule. That is why I was trying so hard to avoid quoting him. It isn't easy to do anymore. The man is often wrong, and he just flat wont shut up! I have read (and seen him on documentaries) where he wont allow excavation permits unless the archaeologist agrees with his theories ahead of time. I realize that he is trying to keep crackpots out of Egyptian dirt, but they guy goes totally overboard. Kind of like "dictator of the dirt".
He thinks he is a pharao.
btw, what cheaper sources of protein was there?
It was either fish or beef, you can't tell the quality of the beef so it may be the lousiest piece of meat.
I suppose they also had birds and eggs to eat, but perhaps beef was cheaper than bird. I don't know any other animal protein sources they ate.
Just wanted to add to my post #38:
Even the fact that the cattle bones were all from young males doesn't prove definitively that the workers were getting the prime cuts. The best meat could have been removed for the elites and the workers could have been given only the gnarly stuff that was left. Maybe if they excavate the latrines (if they've found them) we will know more about what the masses were actually eating, as opposed to what was being butchered.
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